Mud, sweat and wet

Popped out again today for a run with Dad which would have been great had it not been drizzling and foggy all the way round. We stupidly went across the common which was like running through a swamp, and it turns out that the real slip hazard is mud not ice - who'd have known! Charging down icy slopes where the ice is sitting on mud, just waiting for you to step on it before it suddenly disappears from underneath you is quite an experience, especially when you can't see for the rain and fog. A good three quarters of the time was spent unable to see because of the rain on my glasses, the other quarter unable to see cos of my breath steaming up my glasses and the whole time getting soaking wet feet cos I couldn't see the puddles in front of me! But it was good to be out again, running an almost respectable distance for the first time in December!

5.8 miles
00:47:51
Weather: ice, mud, wet!
Mood: cold and content

Christmas Time

So on Christmas Eve my dad called me and asked if I fancied running a race on Christmas day morning. Full of festive generosity I agreed to the 9am run and so that morning we, along with a few other intrepid speedsters, were lined up in the frozen and snow-covered park to trot around the fields twice before filling up with turkey. It was mostly club runners, but I'm sure most of the top people stayed at home, so I managed to creep in in second place, just ahead of a guy recovering from a groin strain and my old dad, so a nice start to the day. It was pretty cold though, so home and a hot shower were gratefully received, and so icy that people were definitely not putting down fast times, even with spikes.

Got a nice neon yellow jacket for Christnas so I don't get run over.

Spoke too soon...

So I broke my leg...

Snowt so bad

Running on snow doesn't seem to be too bad, or at least it's not bad in the way you might expect. I've not felt like I'm about to fall over or slip or lose balance, which is nice, but it does present a mental block going down hill - you never feel like you can let rip going downhill in the snow in case there's a massive lump of ice just where you want to stop (ie as you reach the busy road with lorries about to run over your skidding body). Looks pretty, keeps you cool, but that's about all I can say in favour of the snow.

Snowthing to worry about!

First time I’ve been out in a while and it showed. It wasn’t for speed or distance or anything, just trying to get back out there and putting down some miles. Since this was probably only the fourth time I’ve been out in about a month I made the mistake of setting off too fast, all the while having to try and adjust to running with the snow and ice. That double whammy meant by the time I’d got to the top of the first hill I was feeling some cramp. I suppose another reason I struggled a bit is that I wasn’t out with either of my usual running buddies, famed elite athlete (and renowned ladies man) Big Bird, or my point-main O’John (a bit of a running hero), who usually keep me going. More on them later.

I slowed down a bit and felt a lot better, but I hadn’t come out just for a pleasure run: I wanted to do some intervals (sprint/jog/sprint/jog etc) since I was so out of shape. Intervals are a strange beast. Speaking to my cousin about marathon running I asked him whether he thought intervals were a good thing to do and he said some people swear by them, but he never did them. Basically his advice was “Do them if you like.” Not good advice; I’ve never in my life met anyone who likes doing intervals.

I’d gone up onto the grassy common to do them, since a) there are fewer people there and I don’t look as silly and b) I thought there would be less ice. Managed to get through it without slipping over and looking a wally in front of the watching dogs (and dog walkers). As I headed home I felt a lot better, and found a bit of stride when I got onto some cleared road. Bumped into some friends around the corner from home and we had a chat which was lovely. A fine end to what started out on a low, so all in all a good way to get back into it.

00:29:53

3.7 miles

Weather: Cold, snow, ice, wind

Mood: Content

Second post, same as the first

 OK so this is a blog tracking my progress training for the Edinburgh Marathon in May 2011. I’m entered so there’s no backing out now. If you’re reading this you probably know me, but I’ll say something about who I am and why I’m running just for the record – my future self will enjoy having the stats to look back on.

Vital statistics: 21, male, 195cm (ish), 70-80kg (depending on how much change I’ve got).

I’m running because 1) my dad wants to run a marathon before he dies, so I thought someone should go round and help the paramedics when they have to cart him away if he doesn’t quite succeed. At the same time I thought of 2) raising money for Crohn’s and Colitis UK, a charity helping people with IBDs, like me – I’ve suffered from Crohn’s disease for 7 years. Only recently has it come under enough control that I could even contemplate running any distance.

I would never have described myself as a runner before this. In fact, nobody would have described me as a runner before this [bad joke about the Odyssey]. My dad has run for a fair few years, but the only running I ever did was the warm-up before football, and even that was a challenge. However that doesn’t seem to be a barrier for entering a marathon. If we go back to April 2010, when a great friend of mine ran the Paris marathon (in 4 hours), you’d find us standing on the sidelines, cheering on the crowds at the 5 kilometre mark. The race was full of people who seemed never to have run 5k before, so dad turned to me and said “Hey, I reckon I could do this!” And that’s how we ended up, months later, signing on the dotted line for the Edinburgh marathon.

First post

Writing about running is big bucks these days, so I thought I should jump on the bandwagon before it ups sticks to haul anchor and fly off to pastures new. Here goes.

What the critics say about this blog:

“Inspirational! I laughed, cried, swooned, cowered, leaped and danced” - Ben Dover

“Rollercoaster of emotions. Journey. Voyage of discovery. 10/10” - Peter Brain

“You really need to think of a decent title.” - Jim

“What the hell is a fartlek anyway?” - My Mum